CAN DARK CHOCOLATE ACUTE SUPPLEMENTATION IMPROVE CYCLOERGOMETER PERFORMANCE TEST?

Abstract

Prevalence studies of dark chocolate may produce results similar to those observed after resistance exercise. The results examining the effects of dark chocolate ingestion on aerobic exercise performance are controversial. In addition, there is a choice in experiments with chronically consumed chocolate components (40 to 80 g) and large amounts of dark chocolate in studies to improve athletic performance. Therefore, the purpose of this study to verify the effect of acute supplementation of 80 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa) on performance on cycle ergometer test. Eleven healthy, physically active, but untrained men participated in the study. Two incremental cycle ergometer tests were performed to determine the peak power output (Ppeak) without chocolate supplementation (control condition, C) and with supplementation of 80 g of dark chocolate 70% cocoa (C70%) ingested orally two hours before the test. Variables such as heart rate (HR), blood glucose concentration [GLI], blood pressure (SBP/DBP), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were monitored. Data normality was verified by the Shapiro-Wilk test, and the results are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD). The performance data of the tests and physiological variables were compared using Student's t-test for paired samples, adopting a significance level of P < 0.05. No statistical differences were found for Ppeak (238.0 ± 35.1 vs 250.9 ± 42.7 W) between conditions (C and C70%, respectively), as well as in the other variables. Therefore, we concluded that although the ingestion of 80 g of dark chocolate (70% cocoa) 2 hours prior the cycle ergometer test did not modify the peak power output, physiological and psychophysiological variables analyzed when presenting the average results, individual analysis demonstrated that this supplementation could be used to enhance peak power, which support individual as opposed to group analysis to evaluate performance responses to supplementation protocols.